Archive for July, 2009

Michigan Jobs

Sunday, July 26th, 2009

The national recession has been particularly unkind to Michigan’s job situation. With the economy struggling, the auto industry has seen sales drastically decline. This has severely affected the state that relied heavily on this sector to provide jobs.

According to the most recent data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Michigan’s unemployment rate jumped over a percent during June. Last month joblessness rose 1.1 percent, going from May’s 14.1 percent to 15.2 percent. This is the highest the state’s unemployment rate has been in 26 years.

Currently the state has the highest unemployment rate in the country.

During June the national jobless rate rose to 9.5 percent, which means that Michigan is much worse than most of the country. The state’s unemployment rate is also significantly higher than it was during the same month last year. In June of 2008 only 8.1 percent of Michigan residents were collecting jobless benefits.

According to the Michigan Department of Energy, Labor, and Economic Growth, 740,000 people in the state are out of work. This is the largest number of jobless workers the state has seen since 1976.

During June approximately 19,000 jobs were lost in the manufacturing sector. Another 10,000 positions were cut in the professional and business services industry. On top of this the construction sector lost another 5,000 positions.

Considering the drastic number of jobs lost, the 5,000 government jobs created during the month had no chance of making a dent in the state’s losses.

Over the course of the last year several industries in the state have seen year-over-year losses in excess of 10 percent. The largest decline was experienced by the manufacturing sector, where jobs have fallen by 25.9 percent in the last 12 months. Employers in the construction sector also cut 18.4 percent and the professional and business services industry have seen a decline of 12.3 percent.

Only one industry in Michigan has reported any year-over-year job gains whatsoever; educational and healthcare services. This sector now has 0.8 percent more employees on the payroll than it did in June of 2008.

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Residents Lose Confidence in California Jobs

Saturday, July 25th, 2009

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, California’s unemployment rate remained steady at 11.6 percent during the month of June. Considering that the national average was 9.5 percent that month, this means that the jobs situation in the state is suffering more than many other areas across the nation. During the same month last year, only 7.1 percent of California’s population was without work.

Despite the fact that the state’s unemployment rate stayed the same in June, workers in California continued to lose their faith in the employment situation. According to a recent press release, Spherion’s California Employee Confidence Index fell another 3.1 points in June. Currently the Index stands at 46.1.

Each month Harris Interactive polls California workers on behalf of Spherion to find out how they feel about their job security and chances of finding work. Last months survey found that there is a growing number of people who lack confidence in their ability to find work if it becomes necessary.

According to the survey, only 43 percent of those polled felt they could find work if they lost their current job. This is a 6 percent decline since May’s 49 percent. The survey also found that 78 percent of workers feel that there are not many jobs in their state. This is a significant increase from the previous month’s 69 percent.

Despite this, the majority of workers are not currently afraid that they will lose their current position any time in the foreseeable future. According to the poll, 56 percent of workers believe they won’t lose their jobs. Still, this shows a growing concern in the area. During the previous month 65 percent responded positively about their ability to stay at their place of employment.

“We aren’t surprised by the drop in overall confidence in June’s report, as ongoing fluctuation in our Index is highly probable in the months to come,” said Joan Van Donge, region Vice President of Spherion, in the recent press release. “Our California confidence levels remain on par with what we are seeing with the state’s unemployment landscape. However, it is important to note that June’s dip in overall confidence can be attributed primarily to worker’s concerns about the economy and job market, while their personal confidence levels experienced a fractional decline.”

Those concerned about their ability to find work should consider revamping their resume and brushing up on their job interview skills. Individuals struggling to find employment should remember that jobs are still out there and keep applying for new positions. Eventually an opportunity will come your way.

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Recruiting Software Provider Wins Award

Monday, July 6th, 2009

Since there are so many options on the market, trying to decide on the right recruiting software provider can be difficult. Word of mouth often helps, as does knowing which companies have won what prestigious awards.

According to a recent press release, recruiting software provider Bullhorn has won yet another award. The newest accolade added to the company’s list of achievements is the 2009 SoftwareCEO Most Innovative Vertical Industry Software Award from CompTIA.

During 2008 the Bullhorn made the list of finalists for the award. This is the first time that the company has actually secured this honor from CompTIA, which is one of the leading trade associations in the world for the world’s information technology (IT) sector.

“We’re honored to win this prestigious award in the category of Most Innovative Vertical Industry Software, and view it as a testament to our On Demand software model of delivering innovation in real-time,” said Bullhorn’s CEO and co-founder Arthur Papas in the recent press release. “This win only strengthens our conviction to lead the staffing and recruiting industry in bringing technology and business innovation to market, while extending that culture to all aspects of servicing our customers.”

Each year SoftwareCEO’s achievement awards bring attention to the staffing and recruiting industry’s most innovative software products and new business models, according to the release. This year Bullhorn’s integrated, on-demand front office solution was found to be the most innovative product available on the vertical market.

“The IT industry is in the midst of one of the most innovative periods in its history,” said CompTIA’s president and chief executive officer Todd Thibodeaux. “Virtualization, cloud computing, software-as-a-service, and many other solutions are delivering real business value to customers. By winning a SoftwareCEO Software Innovation award, Bullhorn has demonstrated it is at the forefront of innovation. On behalf of the worldwide membership of CompTIA and SoftwareCEO, I am pleased to recognize their achievement.”

In order to win this award, a company has to meet certain criteria. For starters the product must have the ability to address and solve business related problems. It must go beyond traditional ideas and processes and it must impact both software products and the industry. This impact must also be seen as having the ability to continue to have an impact for some time.

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HR Software Company Releases RPO Edition

Monday, July 6th, 2009

Many recruitment efforts take up a lot of time for HR professionals. These individuals often have other responsibilities, which means that trying to find new talent for the workplace either takes away from these duties or requires extra workers in this department. Another option that businesses have is recruitment process outsourcing (RPO).

Companies that handle the recruitment efforts of other businesses manage finding new talent through a variety of different software options. Now one provider of HR Software has standardized the process by releasing their own RPO Edition.

According to a recent press release, myStaffingPro has decided to streamline their RPO functionality into a software product designed specifically for firms that handle the recruitment needs of other businesses. This version offers RPO firms a user-friendly applicant tracking system that can be implemented and configured with a few simple mouse clicks.

“myStaffingPro has been delivering custom processes to Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) companies for nearly 10 years,” said Product Developer Jim Stover in the recent press release. “The product development team combined all of their experience and knowledge to create a user-friendly system that can be implemented in no time.”

The companies Director of Client Services, Jenni Roof, believes that the program will make a difference in the amount of time RPO firms take to begin looking for applicants.

“The RPO Edition will drastically accelerate the ‘go live date’ for RPO companies implementing a new customer’s hiring process. With myStaffingPro, a customer-specific career site and prescreening can be created in just minutes,” said Roof.

The RPO Edition of myStaffingPro will offer firms a feature-rich administrative interface that gives its users the ability to manage multiple accounts. On top of this it will help in prescreening, interview scheduling and has a phone interview guide. All users of this edition will be able to access all of their accounts 24/7 through a single login.

“myStaffingPro’s candidate auto-scheduling saves us time and money in two ways. First, we don’t lose valuable candidates during the hiring process by allowing them to proceed directly to scheduling if they meet the requirements, which helps us reduce the time-to-fill metric. Second, we save labor costs by not needing our staff to reach out to schedule the candidates by phone or e-mail,” commented myStaffingPro user Kelly Services’ HR Systems Administrator, Ann Barrowclift.

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Cover Letters Important in Job Search

Friday, July 3rd, 2009

With the economy struggling, trying to conduct an executive level job search can be difficult. Knowing exactly what employers want can make a big difference. According to a recent press release from $100K+ career search website TheLadders.com, a cover letter is a must.

The senior-level job search site recently conducted a survey and found that 88 percent of recruiters believe that every applicant should include a cover letter when applying for a job. Despite this, only 53 percent of executive-level candidates include a cover letter when they submit their resumes. The discrepancy shows that it is likely that employers look favorably upon those applicants that do include this document.

And if impressing a potential boss wasn’t enough, the survey found that 39 percent of recruiters have eliminated a job candidate solely based on the fact that they did not include a cover letter with their resume.

According to the Ladders, there are several steps an executive-level job applicant can take to make sure that their cover letter is created properly. For starters, job seekers should keep the document simple. The career search website suggests following a “who”, “what”, “when”, “where” and “why” outline.

“If you’re using bulleted statements in your cover letter to highlight specific achievements, qualifications or experiences, be certain to only use 4-6 and then leave a bit of white space in between each to enhance the readability of the document.” Said Wendy Enelow, resume writer and training consultant to TheLadders.com, in the recent press release.

Enelow went on to say that it is important that, while remaining simple, the cover letter grabs the recruiter or employer’s attention.

“Start your cover letter with your one WOW achievement or qualification or career success to immediately capture your reader’s interest and attention,” said Enelow.

Job seekers should make sure that their cover letter illustrates how their past experience in relevant to the positions they are applying for. Look over the listing and find key words that can be included in the document.

Nowadays, many people apply for jobs online. This often calls for choosing a resume format that translates well when e-mailed. In these situations the cover letter should both be included as the e-mail message itself and included in the attachment.

“Just as your resume is a career marketing tool, so is your cover letter. Take the time that is necessary to craft a letter that is powerful and persuasive with an immediate call to action — to invite you for an interview,” concluded Enelow.

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Florida Jobs Online Rise Despite National Decline

Thursday, July 2nd, 2009

According to a recent report from The Conference Board, jobs online fell during the month of June. Despite this, jobs in Florida continued to show some improvement.

The report shows that nationally online advertised job vacancies declined by 66,700 listings. This brought the number of positions posted online to 3,294,800. During the last five months the jobs announced on the Internet have declined by 71,000 positions. Although this is still high, it is low in comparison to the 1,200,000 job ads lost between August of 2008 and January of 2009.

“We are not out of the woods yet, but job demand has definitely stabilized since January,” said The Conference Board’s Senior Economist Gad Levanon in a recent press release. “Although there is some bounce in the monthly numbers, the number of online advertised vacancies has held steady in the last three months (up a modest 35,000). Across the U.S., it is an increasingly mixed picture with some states, like Florida and Georgia, showing some modest gains, others such as New York, North Carolina holding steady, and some, like California and Pennsylvania, yet to show real improvement.”

Jobs announced online fell in all four regions, according to The Conference Board. The South saw the smallest loss, with employers only advertising 3,400 fewer positions. The loss experienced in Northeast was the worst. Employers in this region cut Internet ads by 18,100.

“The June data shows an almost even split between the number of states with increases (24) and the number with declines (26),” said Levanon in the release. “But there are clear signs that the employers are advertising again for workers and in some states the trend over the last few months has improved.”

Despite losing as a region, several states in the South reported gains. Florida had the highest increase, with employers adding 9,200 Internet jobs ads. Georgia followed with a gain of 2,900 new listings.

The largest losses in the Northeast occurred in New York, where employers dropped the number of jobs announced online by 5,300 positions. Pennsylvania came in second, losing 2,700 listings. Both New Jersey and Maine reported some growth. The first added 1,700 new job ads and the latter saw an increase of 100 new positions announced online.

According to The Conference Board, June saw an increase in advertisements for the Arts, design, entertainment and sports. Although the construction industry continues to be well below what it was a year ago, this industry was flat in June. During the same time period computer and mathematical positions experienced a drop.

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